Chapter 188
Chapter 188
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 188
Chapter Title: Even If I Fall into a Ghost Story, I Still Have to Go to Work
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Cosmic Shopping Mall.
How much money had I spent there?
Even without remembering every single item, it was easy to figure it was in the billions.
I'd dumped in enough for a full deposit on a typical capital region apartment and bought all sorts of items.
And then one day, I'd received that golden card.
I am a Cosmic Shopping Mall VIP!
~Gratitude Cell Enclosed~
I had no clue what that "gratitude cell" even meant.
Until this very moment.
"Customer."
I looked up.
I remembered sticking the cell under my tongue, but after that, things got hazy.
So... I must've dozed off for a bit.
"Customer."
Hold on. Manager. I'm still trying to get a grasp on the situation...
Customer?
"Manager?!"
"No."
Only then did I properly take in the figure before me.
The lizard was staring blankly back at me.
"Manager."
"No. Customer."
Twice now, a firm denial.
I looked more closely at the reptile in front of me. The scales covering its snout and the gleaming vertical pupils were the same.
But the color was different.
'G-Gray.'
A gray lizard was sitting where Lee Jaheon had been just moments ago!
The snacks and coffee I'd hastily set out on the table were gone too.
I swallowed hard.
"Who are you?"
"I am the shopper here to assist VIP customer with personal shopping on behalf of the Cosmic Shopping Mall's sales representative."
Oh my god.
"Shall we proceed with shopping?"
I stood up from my seat. Right, I was still sitting at the motel room table.
And the Lee Jaheon who'd been sitting across from me had been replaced by some alien that looked just like him... hold on.
Cosmic Shopping Mall VIP shopping?
Don't tell me... some kind of employee was personally visiting me for a sales pitch?
'...Manager!'
We were just talking about how I'm completely contaminated!
Was this buildup to sell me contamination-friendly items? No, even that wouldn't be bad if it could remove the contamination first!
I barely calmed myself and sat back down, quickly saying,
"I want to talk to Lizard Manager."
"Do you mean the entity Lee Jaheon, currently employed as a manager at Daydream Corporation?"
I froze.
"Is it necessary for psychological comfort because he is an entity with whom you have built a friendly relationship?"
"What happens if I say yes?"
"I'll explain that there are no issues."
The lizard's snout opened.
"We know Deer, and it is exactly the same as what Manager Lee Jaheon knows."
"...!"
"We also wish to maintain a friendly relationship with you going forward. Customer."
"...".
It was bizarre.
Come to think of it, Lee Jaheon often introduced or spoke with "we" as the subject.
And the button I'd used was named... "We Help."
We.
"Who is 'we'?"
"We are the Union. Speaking to Lee Jaheon or to the entity before you now is speaking to the Union."
The conversation was veering into metaphysics.
So... a collective of bizarre alien beings sharing one memory and emotion...
'I've heard of ghost stories like that.'
Of course the alien shop would be sci-fi. I clutched my head and said,
"Just... I'll talk to Manager Lee Jaheon. I'm not in the mood to shop right now."
"Deer."
"...!"
I looked up.
But the white lizard was still a different entity from Lee Jaheon.
Yet it spoke in the exact same tone.
"You are in a situation where you need help. Receive appropriate treatment in the form of shopping when you can."
"...What treatment?"
"I exist here to assist with shopping. Shall we begin VIP shopping at the Cosmic Shopping Mall?"
It was a non sequitur.
But catching the nuance, I slowly nodded.
So I had to shop to proceed.
"...Yes."
"Understood."
The gray lizard nodded.
The next moment.
The table began to expand enormously.
"...?!"
To the left, it stretched endlessly, misty items rising onto it. And tentacles slinking around those items... no, wait. Where the hell was this?
"Accessed via the cell you ingested. In response to complaints about the homepage UI, VIPs can shop in the most familiar and comfortable space..."
"Did I say that out loud?"
"Yes. Please relax and enjoy your shopping."
The lizard spoke very professionally. No, wait, accessed via the cell—what the...?
"Then, before shopping, we'll proceed with identity verification. It's difficult to confirm transaction intent in this state, so we'll distinguish for a comfortable purchase."
"Distinguish?"
"Yes."
People appeared at the endlessly stretching table seats.
"...!"
Shrouded in mist, hard to see clearly. But the closer ones faintly showed features.
Mart cashier uniform, elegant suit and stylish gloves on a broadcaster, kindergarten teacher holding a textbook, high schooler in uniform...
The ghost stories I'd been through.
Me, contaminated in those ghost stories.
"...!"
And the two entities sitting closest to me weren't wrapped in mist—their forms were clear.
I turned my head with a creak to confirm.
"It's o
kay
Calm
down"
"[Over
here]"
They even spoke to me.
Chills ran up my spine.
Before their spots on the table were decorations and colors symbolizing their respective ghost stories. I jolted up from the table to run...
"Customer. You are currently connected to the Cosmic Shopping Mall via the cell. These are mere projections of the mind; your personality and ego are not actually separated."
"...".
"Do not be overly wary of yourself."
"...Is this a visualization of my contamination? For reference in... decision-making during purchases?"
"Similar."
I'm going insane.
I sat back down for now, pressing my temples. The yellow mascot fidgeted, trying to tend to me.
This is madness.
"Shall we verify?"
Verify what?
"For smooth shopping, shall we reconfirm the features of the nearby projections?"
"...".
I instinctively realized.
This was advice.
So I raised my eyes and looked at the 'mes' filling the table.
I felt like throwing up.
But that revulsion came because I knew these things. The fear arose because I could imagine them so well.
However...
"...".
I looked at the nearby ones.
The features visible more clearly, unswathed in mist.
But you know.
"Who are you?"
The one sitting right after the massive mascot blocking my view next to me.
Draped in ragged sackcloth-like cloth.
"First time seeing you."
A me I didn't know.
"Keep
your
mouth
shut"
The mascot turned, clearing the line of sight to it.
I saw its form more clearly now, realizing the material of that sackcloth it wore.
It was... worn parchment.
"You."
I stared at this unfamiliar me.
"Take that off."
"...".
The figure at the table slowly pulled the parchment sackcloth from its head, revealing itself.
Me in a crimson cleaning uniform.
"I'll cover anything obstructing the shopping."
The next moment.
The me in the cleaning uniform vanished from the table.
"...".
My heart pounded.
"Customer. Does anything come to mind from that projection of yourself?"
"Yes."
I remembered.
I reached into the inventory tattoo and pulled out something I'd forgotten... no, something eroded to be forgotten.
A rolled-up worn parchment.
The item that dropped when the security captain disposed of the Nameless Radiant Church mimic I encountered while cleaning the company basement after disciplinary action.
A fragment of the Nameless Radiant Church's sacred law.
I remembered wrapping it in "Wrapper 12B357na" to block its effects.
'And... on the Tamra Express, I unwrapped it and wrapped it around my body for defense!'
After that, getting sucked into Brown's Late Night Talk Show, I never had occasion to recall this Nameless Radiant Church sacred law fragment.
No... maybe at some point, my narrative was manipulated so I 'couldn't recall' it.
'...If I hadn't just gotten that music box originating from the Nameless Radiant Church from the goods box, I might've forgotten it entirely.'
Seeing an item from the same origin right before sparked the association.
And...
"Customer. The parchment is swallowing something."
"Yes."
I saw it too.
I forcibly pried out a black cylindrical object that had nearly melted into the parchment.
A fountain pen.
"...!"
The brainwashing item from Se-gwang Industrial High School that I'd passed to Baek Saheon and gotten back from him.
'I'd forgotten this one too.'
I realized.
The sacred law fragment seemed to have stolen the fountain pen's narrative.
Through that, it grew stronger, and one day I would've been fully eroded into a Nameless Radiant Church anomaly...
....
Hold on.
'What else have I forgotten?'
I racked my brain quickly, but nothing came up.
That made sense. It was already a stolen memory from me!
So then...
"Can I get a list of items I've purchased from the alien shop so far?"
"Yes. Are you trying to track the whereabouts of items?"
"...Yes."
"Then I have something to tell you."
The lizard looked at me.
"Customer, there is an item you have forgotten."
"What is it?"
"You received strength-enhancing equipment from Manager Lee Jaheon and used it to create new gear, but its whereabouts after creation are unclear."
"...!"
"Manager Lee Jaheon tried to inform you of this, but realized repeatedly that mere notification wouldn't resolve it."
...I remember.
We definitely had that conversation.
As I listened, I slowly pieced it together.
'...A bracelet.'
The item I'd made with Deputy Manager Eun Ha-je at the Daydream Corporation annex one last time.
She'd appeared abruptly in my room then. ...Just like Manager Lee Jaheon in this motel room now.
But what I'd done with it after making it... completely gone from memory.
There'd been several crises where I could've used it, but I never thought of it.
And I probably never would... because the sacred law fragment had already devoured it.
...A chilling feeling. I barely opened my mouth.
"Sorry. You lent it to me and all."
"It's fine."
Even though it said it wasn't Lee Jaheon, it accepted the apology naturally.
'Whew.'
Calm down, calm down.
At least I'd noticed now.
'The mimic had nearly eroded me completely, so that's why the collector vial wasn't filling.'
Plus, I'd been mimicking everything from security special ops to mascots, doubling the effect.
...Probably judged me not human, but a Nameless Radiant Church anomaly.
'Whew.'
And my contamination had deepened further because of it.
I gloomily eyed the bizarre 'mes' seated around the table.
The cat glared at me with blood-red eyes, discontentedly thwacking the table with its tail, while the mascot drooped its horns limply.
All sorts of reactions overwhelming me.
And though banished from the table, the mimicked part was still inside me somewhere...
'Ha.'
For now, one by one.
I nodded at the Nameless Radiant Church sacred law fragment.
"Can the shopping mall dispose of this parchment?"
"Not an item the Cosmic Shopping Mall acquires."
"What about the contaminations sitting at this table right now?"
"Not an item the Cosmic Shopping Mall acquires."
Whew.
Right. Either way, too dangerous to sell to humans; probably not handled here.
'But Manager Lee Jaheon guided me here as an alternative to the Fox Counseling Office.'
So... there must be a way.
At that moment, the "We Help" button popped into my mind.
"Then, is it possible to commission the 'Union' to remove them? Paying a fee, of course."
"Yes."
"...!"
The lizard looked at me.
"Proceeding with request to permanently destroy part of customer?"
"Don't
do it"
"Danger
ous"
Hold on.